


Autistic Creative Challenge: Fourth Doctor

by AutisticWriter



Series: Autistic Headcanons [70]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: #redinstead, Ableism, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Parents, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Creative Challenge, Autistic Doctor (Doctor Who), Autistic Fourth Doctor, Awkwardness, Bickering, Crying, Dialogue-Only, Double Drabble, Drabble Collection, Echolalia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Essays, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Food, Forehead Kisses, Fourth Doctor's Scarf, Gardens & Gardening, Homework, Hugs, Ice Cream, Jelly Babies, Mario Kart, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Fourth Doctor, POV First Person, Parenthood, Phone Calls & Telephones, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Queerplatonic Relationships, Sensory Overload, Service Dogs, Silly, Special Interests, Spoon Theory, Stimming, Sweet, Television, The Fourth Doctor Has ADHD, Trampolines, Trees, Video & Computer Games, Worry, sweets, yoyos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-11-29 10:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11438790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: A collection of double drabbles written for uniqueaspergirl's Autistic Creative Challenge. These drabbles focus on the Fourth Doctor, whom I headcanon as autistic.





	1. #Redinstead

There is a spring in the Doctor’s step as he walks along the pavement. He plays with his yoyo with one hand, whilst holding Susan’s hand with the other. Harry has her other hand, and they swing their daughter between them as they walk. Susan giggles, delighted.

The Doctor is delighted too. There is a horrible autism awareness event going on in the city centre, and his family are coming with him to protest and spread autism acceptance, which is what really counts. And they need to make a difference, because people like that need to be stopped.

They’re all dressed in red, and the Doctor’s huge pockets are full of flyers. Sarah wouldn’t let him bring his megaphone, but his voice is loud enough anyway. He can be very good at causing a scene when he wants to.

“We’re not going to cause a scene, Doctor,” Sarah says, holding Harry’s other hand.

The Doctor smiles. “Of course we aren’t. But we still need to make sure we’re noticed.”

“Exactly,” Harry says. “But don’t swear, Doctor. I know what you’re like.”

The Doctor feigns irritation. “Fine. But I get to call them ignorant if they ignore me.”

Sarah grins. “Deal.”


	2. Stimming

The Doctor loves to stim. Unlike many other people (including Sarah and Harry), he doesn’t care what people think of him, so he doesn’t care if he gets stared at in public. So he stims in public. And at home. He stims everywhere.

Being autistic makes stimming a beautiful experience. As he explained to Susan, everyone stims, but only neurodivergent people get to experience the wonder of it. His sensitive senses make stimming perfect, a wonderfully soothing way to express himself and keep calm when he is stressed.

His ADHD also makes stimming unique, but in a different way. He seeks stimulation, needing to stim almost constantly to keep himself focused and to prevent boredom. To the point that he can annoy Harry and Sarah in bed when they’re trying to sleep and he can’t stop stimming.

So both of them together makes stimming a necessity, a massively important part of his life. He walks with a bounce, his long scarf flapping in the wind, his hands flailing or using his yoyo or manipulating his Fidget Cube. He pressure stims with layers and layers of clothing, his scarf comforting and heavy around his neck.

Yes, he definitely loves to stim.


	3. Special Interest

The Doctor has a bit of an obsession with video games. It is normal to find him somewhere inside the TARDIS, playing games on systems that obviously don’t come from this time period (which is why he keeps them in the TARDIS; none of them want Susan’s friends to come round their house and see a 21st century games console). He has a massive collection of consoles and games, and is always reading guide books to learn tips and tricks.

Video games are good for the Doctor as well. His ADHD means he needs stimulation, and playing these games keeps his brain and his hands focused on the same thing at once. He can hyperfocus on the games for hours, needing to be prompted to eat and drink.

The Doctor likes Harry, Sarah and Susan to play the games with him. Susan is rather good at them (especially Mario Kart), but Harry and Sarah needed a lot of practise to even work the controller properly. But, whilst Harry might be completely awful at all of these games, they're fun to play, and he loves sharing the experience with the Doctor, because he loves seeing him so happy and content.


	4. Communication

There’s something wrong with Par. He looks worried and stressed, even though he won Mario Kart earlier. It’s just us two home tonight (Mum and Dad are at the cinema), so I can’t go and ask them to help. It’s up to me to help Par.

“Is something wrong, Par?” I ask.

“Yes... I...” Par trails off, tapping his fingers against his chin. “I... I’ve...”

As he struggles to talk, I remember something Mum did once. Par was struggling to say more than two words at once, so Mum started asking him questions that only needed short answers. And it worked, because Par managed to tell Mum what was wrong.

And I wonder if we can try that now.

“Are you worried about Mum and Dad?”

“No.”

“Is something wrong with the house?”

“Key.”

“Which key?”

“TARDIS.”

“The TARDIS key?”

Par nods. “Lost.”

I understand him. The TARDIS is Par’s safe space, and it must be upsetting for him to have locked himself out of it. So I try to sound doctor-y like Dad and hug Par and say, “Should we go and have a look for it?”

And Par smiles, ruffling my hair as he nods his head. “Please.”


	5. Freebie

Sarah is sat on the sofa, watching a soap opera and (somewhat guiltily) enjoying some time to herself whilst Harry and the Doctor go to Susan’s parents’ evening. At least, she was... until their return is signalled by the front door slamming.

“You’ve got to hear this, Sarah!” Harry cries, storming into the living room.

“Hello, Sarah,” the Doctor says, following Harry. He has that silly grin on his face, and she instantly knows something weird has happened.

“Hello,” she says, sighing. “What happened?”

And Harry and the Doctor proceed to tell her all about the disaster that was parents’ evening. The Doctor took a disliking to Susan’s teacher, and the teacher wasn’t keen on him either. And, apparently, the conversation became somewhat... heated.

“And then, he called her, and I quote, ‘an ignorant, infuriating human being’!” Harry yells.

As Harry finishes his rant, the Doctor grins sheepishly. And then he starts laughing. His laughter is contagious, and Sarah starts laughing too.

Harry sighs in exasperation, but even he starts chuckling.

“I’m assuming I’m not going next time,” the Doctor says, grinning.

“You’re certainly not,” Harry says. He rolls his eyes, and gives both the Doctor and Sarah a hug.


	6. Food

“Would you like a jelly baby?”

He says it to almost everyone he meets, holding out the paper bag full of jelly sweets and offering them one. It has become a bit of a social script, a way to instigate a conversation without having to think of a conversation starter every time. Because starting conversations is extremely difficult, and doing this allows the Doctor to look far more socially competent than he actually is.

It is also a useful script because it gives the Doctor an excuse to eat his favourite sweets. When the person takes a jelly baby, the Doctor eats one too, savouring the sweetness that fills his mouth. They taste amazing, and the familiarity (jelly babies are another comfort thing for him, although not nearly as much as his scarf) is often enough to ground the Doctor when he is overloading or panicking. And, of course, they are absolutely delicious.

 

* * *

 

One evening, Susan is crying after watching a sad film. Unsure how to comfort her, the Doctor sits down beside Susan and holds out the bag.

“Would you like a jelly baby, Susan?” he asks.

And she takes one, smiling as she wipes her eyes. “Thanks, Par.”


	7. Spoons

“Has it ever occurred to you, Harry, that it’s weird how tired I get?” the Doctor says.

Harry frowns at the random question, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I mean, it’s odd, isn’t it? Because at the end of a long day, who’s the most tired in this house? It’s not you, the insomniac doctor who’s been dealing with patients all day. It’s not Sarah, the journalist who’s been chasing stories across the country without a break. And it’s certainly not Susan, a growing child who’s spent all day at school.” The Doctor’s tone is jokey, but Harry can see the tension on his face. “No, it’s me! The literal alien who barely needs to sleep and does nothing besides tinker with the TARDIS. And I can’t be the only one who finds that pathetic.”

Harry stares at him, horrified to find the Doctor trembling. His hands clenched into fists, he begins to rock back and forth.

“It’s not pathetic,” Harry says, patting his arm. “You’re autistic, Doctor. With your sensory issues and other things it’s no wonder you get drained out. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of. I promise.”

And the Doctor smiles weakly and kisses his forehead.


	8. Crowd

She’s lost. She doesn’t want to admit it, because she’s too big to do something as silly as wander off from Mum and Dad and Par, but Susan knows she is definitely lost.

The theme park is huge, full of loud people and bustling crowds (it’s so loud that Par can’t take his earplugs out without having a sensory overload), and she begins to wonder if she’ll be able to find her parents.

Just as she’s about to find someone to call for her parents on the speakers, Susan hears something.

“Susan!”

It’s Par!

“Susan Sullivan-Smith!” Par yells. “Susan! Where are you?”

Susan spins around, trying to locate his voice. And then she sees him, stood on a wall near the shop entrance.

“Par!” she shouts.

Par spots her and waves his arms, his scarf flapping in the wind. “Susan!”

She rushes over to him, and flings her arms around him. Par picks her up, hugging her tightly.

“You’re safe,” he says, and his voice is a bit shaky. Is he upset?

“I was so scared,” Susan says, leaning her head against his chin.

“I know. So was I. But you’re safe now.”

And Susan sighs shakily, overwhelmed with relief.


	9. Phone Calls

“Phone call for you, Doctor Sullivan. Line two.”

“Thank you. Put them through. Hello?”

_“Hello, Harry!”_

“Doctor? Why on Earth are you phoning me?”

_“I just felt like giving you a ring.”_

“But I’m at work.”

_“I know. I just thought you might want a chat.”_

“Well, I appreciate the thought, Doctor, but I really do need to work.”

_“Fair enough. See you later, then.”_

“Bye.”

 

“Phone call, Doctor Sullivan.”

“What, another one?”

“Yes. It’s on line two.”

“Thanks. Hello?”

_“Hi, Harry.”_

“Sarah? What’s this in aid of? I am at work, you know.”

_“I know, and I wouldn’t bother you normally, promise. I just thought I should tell you that I’m staying up here for a few days. I’ve told the Doctor, but he’ll probably forget to tell you.”_

“Fair enough. Thanks for telling me. Hope you have a good time.”

_“Thanks, Harry. See you soon.”_

“Bye.”

_“Bye.”_

 

“Phone call, Doctor Sullivan. Line—”

“Again?!”

“I’m afraid so. Line one.”

“Righto. Hello?”

_“Hi, Dad!”_

“Susan?! How did you get this... never mind, I already know the answer.”

 

“Janet?”

“Sir?”

“Can you please tell people not to call me at work?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Thanks. Maybe I can actually work now.”


	10. Labels

“Par?” Susan asks him one evening. “Why do I call you my Par?”

“It’s short for Parent,” the Doctor says. “I use it because it’s gender neutral and I’m nonbinary.”

“Huh?”

“I’m nonbinary, Susan,” he says, clicking his fidget cube. “You see, gender isn’t binary of just men and women. It’s a spectrum, and your gender can fall anywhere from man to woman to anywhere in between. And my gender falls somewhere else on the spectrum, meaning I’m nonbinary.”

“But why do we call you ‘he’?” Susan asks. “Isn’t that what you call a man?”

“Pronouns aren’t gendered. You could be a man and use she/her pronouns if you want and still be a man. I use he/him pronouns because they’re what fit me, but they don’t make me a man. I’m still nonbinary.”

Susan smiles, beginning to understand. “So I could use whatever pronouns I want and still be a girl?”

“Exactly,” he says, grinning. “Just like clothes, pronouns don’t have genders. They’re whatever gender you are, because that’s what they’re describing: you. Does that make sense?”

Susan nods. “Yeah, it does. Can you play Mario Kart with me later?”

The Doctor smiles. “Of course I can.”


	11. Collection

Par collects three things: scarves, yoyos and Jelly Babies. I’m not sure why he likes them so much, but it doesn’t really matter. It makes me happy to see him happy.

 

One day, we are on holiday when Par spots a shop that might stock one of his favourite things.

“Look, a toy shop!” Par says, rushing into a massive toy shop. “They might have yoyos.”

I love toy shops, so I run after him, and Mum and Dad follow me. We find Par looking at old-fashioned wooden toys. One of them is a solid wooden yoyo, and Par grins as he does tricks with it.

Dad raises his eyebrows. “Come on, Doctor. Do you really need another yoyo?”

Par turns to look at Dad, and gives him one of his silly smiles. “Don’t be silly, Harry. Don’t you remember the old proverb: ‘one can never have enough yoyos’?”

Dad frowns, but he’s smiling. “Are you sure that’s a real proverb?”

Par nods, and Mum laughs as she says, “Yep, it is. I’ve definitely heard it somewhere before.”

Dad sighs, but he splutters with laughter. And then we’re all laughing, and Par buys the yoyo to add to his collection.


	12. Sensory Overload

“Par?”

As he closes in on himself, the Doctor hears a voice over the horrible booming background noise of the theme park (even with his earplugs in, he can still hear everything). It’s Susan, her voice quiet like she knows what he is going through. He doesn’t stop rocking, but he looks up at his daughter.

“Are you all right, Par?” she asks, clearly anxious.

He shakes his head, wrapping his scarf around his hands and then rubbing the soft wool against his face. It’s wonderfully soothing, and the Doctor feels a tiny bit calmer. Maybe, with Susan’s help, he might be able to find Harry and Sarah before this overload becomes a meltdown.

“Should we find Mum and Dad?” Susan says.

The Doctor nods, forcing himself to smile. He stands up and takes Susan’s hand with his scarf-wrapped hand. They walk through the busy park, the Doctor twisting and flicking and flapping the fingers of his free hand in an attempt to keep a meltdown at bay.

When they find Sarah and Harry, the Doctor pulls them both into a hug. Susan joins the hug too, and the Doctor squeezes her hand as if to say, _thank you, Susan._


	13. Autistic Character

“Now for number 41 on ‘Things That Annoy Par’,” Harry says, putting on a silly voice. Sat on the sofa, Susan giggles and Sarah smiles. “This book.”

Harry holds up a book titled _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time._ And then the Doctor takes the book from Harry and starts to talk.

‘Things That Annoy Par’ has become a regular thing on Sunday evenings. After Susan realised how funny the Doctor is when he’s having a rant, she insisted that he rant about things he hates on a regular basis. The Doctor, who loves ranting, happily obliged, so now this happens once a week. Today, the Doctor’s subject of choice is an early 21st century book.

“Basically, this book is hailed at it’s time for being autistic representation. However, the character is never started to be autistic, and the author did no research to write the character of Christopher. So Christopher is badly written, somehow displaying every autism trait even though that never happens. It’s infuriating.”

As they give him a round of applause, the Doctor gives a silly smile and bows. “Thank you for listening. Tune in next week to hear my next rant.”


	14. Nonverbal

Par had a big meltdown yesterday, and he’s still nonverbal. I’m used to this happening, but it’s a lot easier to cope with now I know sign language. When I was younger, I either had to write on a piece of paper to communicate with Par, or ask Mum or Dad to sign to him instead, but that isn’t a problem anymore. Par has been teaching me sign language, and I’m nearly fluent now!

I find Par in the TARDIS, laying on the sofa in the room where we play video games in the evenings. But he isn’t playing any games; he’s just laying there and clicking his fidget cube. He looks tired, which makes sense after his meltdown.

When he notices me, Par signs something, and I have to think quite hard to realise he just asked me, _How are you?_

 _I’m fine_ , I sign, but I’m still quite slow at signing so I say the words (quietly in case Par’s ears are still sensitive) as I move my hands to form the words. Luckily, Par understands me.

 _Good_ , Par signs, and he smiles.

I smile too, and I sit down next to him and give him a hug.


	15. Stim Toys

Ever since I gave Par that fidget cube, I don’t think I’ve seen him without it. It’s almost always in one of his hands, his fingers clicking the switch or sliding over the bumpy pieces, or I see him put it in his pocket when he does something else like play video games or eat Jelly Babies instead. So, one way or another, he always has it with him.

And it makes me happy to see how much he likes it.

 

“Would you like a Jelly Baby, Susan?” Par asks me one afternoon when he’s helping me do my homework (he always calls me Susan; Mum usually calls me ‘darling’ and Dad likes to call me ‘old thing’).

“Yes please,” I say, taking a red one (my favourite) and eating it. As I lick the sugar off of my fingers, I see Par put the paper bag in his pocket and take out his fidget cube.

He sees me looking and grins, beginning to manipulate the stim toy. “It’s still my favourite, Susan. You have good taste in stim toys.”

I grin back. “Thanks.”

Par turns the page of my homework book and grimaces. “This might take us a while.”


	16. Autistic Utopia

The Doctor loves spending time with his family. Well, he’s sure that most people do, but he means it far more than that. He adores spending time with Sarah, Harry and Susan, because being with them and seeing them all enjoy family life makes him so happy.

Other than the TARDIS, their favourite place to spend time as a family is the back garden. They are out there most evenings in the summer, playing games, talking and generally being silly; the Doctor and Susan are very good at being silly.

As Harry and Sarah chat about their days at the hospital and out researching news stories, the Doctor and Susan climb the big tree and jump on the trampoline and chase each other around the garden, trying to tire each other out so they can fall asleep later.

Sometimes, when he gets tired of running around, the Doctor will sit down and just watch Harry nearly falling over on the trampoline whilst Susan laughs and Sarah steps in to help him, and he just feels so... so content. He never feels safer than when he is with his partners and their daughter, all of them so happy and having fun.


	17. Inspiration

“I think they give her too much homework,” Harry says, taking a sip of his coffee.

Its six o’clock in the evening, and Susan is still doing homework. Their daughter is sat at the kitchen table, looking bored as she works through a homework booklet.

“She’s only at primary school,” he says. “Why do they think she needs to do so much?”

Sarah sighs. “I don’t know. But it’s not fair. She should be playing in the garden, not slogging through maths problems.”

“Would you two be quiet?” the Doctor calls from where he’s helping Susan with her homework. But they know he isn’t serious. “The quicker we get this done, then the quicker we can go on the trampoline.”

 

“What is it tonight, sweetheart?” Harry asks, joining Susan at the table.

“An essay,” Susan says. “I’m nearly finished.”

“Good,” he says, smiling. “What’s it about?”

“People who inspire you,” Susan says.

She writes her last sentence, gives it a quick proofread, and then hurries out into the back garden, yelling something about a trampoline.

Harry picks up her exercise book and skim reads the essay. And something jumps out at him:

**The people who inspire me are my parents.**


	18. Puzzle Pieces

“Dad?” Susan says when they’ve finally arrived home from a long day of protesting against people ‘lighting it up blue’.

“Yes, old thing?” Harry says. He slumps in his seat at the kitchen table, watching Susan climb onto the chair beside him.

She has one of their red flyers in her hand, the one with a thick red cross through a puzzle piece symbol. She looks exhausted, and Harry doesn’t blame her; his legs ache horribly after walking around so much.

“Um... why do they use the...?” her voice trials off, but she points at the puzzle piece. Harry understands, knowing why she doesn’t want to say the words; if the Doctor hears, he’s likely to get panicky. “Why’d they use that as their... symbol?”

“It’s got a nasty meaning,” Harry whispers. “They think autistic people are like a puzzle with a missing piece. But it makes Par sound defective, so we all hate it.”

Susan sighs and grabs Harry’s hand. There are tears in her eyes. “Why’re they so horrible? Why do they hate Par?”

“Because they’re hateful,” he says, and tears run down Susan’s face.

“Don’t cry, old thing,” Harry says, pulling his sobbing daughter into a hug.


	19. Routine

“Right, so, Susan’s going back to school on Monday—”

“Boo!” the Doctor says like he’s heckling her, and Susan joins in.

“Anyway!” Sarah says, and the two of them eventually shut up. “Now school’s back, we need to make a new routine chart. Any volunteers?”

“Me!” Susan cries, raising her hand. “I like charts.”

“I would offer, but after last time...” the Doctor trails off, smiling sheepishly. Sarah certainly remembers the Doctor’s accident involving a bottle of ink and the new carpet.

“Fair point,” Harry says, grinning. “I’ll do it with Susan, old th... Sarah.”

Sarah raises her eyebrows. “Thank you, Harry. I look forward to seeing the results. Hopefully without any accidents,” she says, shooting the Doctor a look that he deliberately ignores.

The daily routine chart is always found stuck to the fridge with a magnet in the shape of a jelly baby. Made whenever there is a change in their circumstances, the chart logs everyone’s activities and what they need to do and when. It’s particularly helpful for the Doctor, who’s ADHD makes it difficult for him to remember things.

And Sarah really does look forward to seeing the new chart, because their daughter is very creative.


	20. Animal or Pet

“Would you ever get a service dog, Doctor?” Harry says as they all sit at the kitchen table.

It may be half six on a Saturday evening, but the four Sullivan-Smiths are still busy. Sarah is writing up a complicated article about some weird goings-on up in Scotland, and the Doctor is helping Susan with her homework. Harry is supposed to be writing the shopping list when he asks the Doctor a frankly bizarre question.

He frowns, wondering if he misheard him. “A service dog?”

“Yes, because Susan’s friend’s grandfather has one, doesn’t he, Susan,” Harry says, and Susan nods.

“Yeah, he brought him to school today. He’s called Toby and he helps him when his PTSD makes him scared and panicky.”

“Mr Wright fought in World War Two,” Harry explains. “His service dog helps to ground him and keep him safe during panic attacks and flashbacks. And when Susan told me, I thought that you might benefit from having a service dog.”

“Yeah, Toby walks around him like this,” Susan says, dragging her chair away from the table and walking in circles around it, “to keep him safe.”

The Doctor smiles. “That’s a good idea. I’ll think about it.”


	21. Honesty

“Do you ever feel bad about not telling people the whole truth?” Harry says.

The Doctor frowns. “The whole truth?”

“He means withholding some of the facts so you don’t tell someone the whole story, so to speak,” Sarah explains, and the Doctor smiles gratefully.

But then he frowns again. “In what way, Harry?”

“You know, with Susan’s school, or our families,” Harry says. “We don’t tell people about the TARDIS, or our actual relationship... and I was just wondering if you feel bad about it sometimes?”

The Doctor shrugs. “Do you?”

“Sometimes...” Harry sighs. “I don’t know.”

“I sometimes feel bad that we have to hide our relationship, Harry,” Sarah says. “But not because we’re lying. It’s because we’re living in a time where polyamory isn’t really accepted, and we don’t want everyone to think we’re weird. But it’s the choice we made, isn’t it? We chose to stay in our own time, which means we can’t be really open about our relationship.”

“And we can’t tell anyone about the TARDIS because it wouldn’t end well for anyone involved,” the Doctor says. “But you don’t need to feel bad, Harry. It’s just how it is.”

Harry sighs. “I know.”


	22. Favourite Place

** My Favourite Place **

**My favourite place is my back garden at home. It is big and green, with trees and bushes and flowers everywhere. There are so many places to hide that we have really good games of hide and seek, because it takes ages to find someone when they go and hide. Mum said I’m the best at hide and seek, because I once managed to hide for a whole hour before I got found. The biggest tree in the garden has really big branches and you can climb right up it. Dad said he’ll build me a tree house one day.**

**Last month, my parents bought me a trampoline for the garden. It’s big enough for us all to go on at once, and I can jump so high I can see over the fence into next door’s garden. We spend hours out in the garden, just jumping on the trampoline and playing hide and seek and having fun. I’ve always loved spending time in the garden, but the trampoline makes it even better.**

Harry finishes reading the essay and sees Susan looking at him expectantly.

“Is it all right?” she asks.

He smiles. “It’s excellent, old thing.”


	23. Happiness

Harry is rather good at Mario Kart these days, if he says so himself. He’s won twelve games now, and has moved right up the family rankings. For the record, they look like this:

** Mario Kart Wins **

**Par: 106**

**Susan: 62**

**Mum: 39**

**Dad: 12**

But winning isn’t really important (none of them are really that competitive; it just happens that the Doctor, through a combination of ADHD hyperfocus, autistic special interests and good hand-eye coordination, is much better than the rest of them), because they all have such fun playing the games. They can spend hours down in what has become known as the TARDIS Games Room, sat on the comfy sofas and chairs around the telly, playing games on Mario Kart and having such a good time.

Like tonight, when the four Sullivan-Smiths are trying (and failing) to complete Rainbow Road without falling off. This course is horrendous, and even the Doctor is struggling.

“No, no, nonono— blast...” Harry cries, falling off of the rainbow course and into space.

“Bad luck, Harry,” Sarah says, having just fallen off for the fifth time.

“You cheat!” the Doctor yells at a character controlled by the Wii.

And Susan just giggles.


	24. Support

Everyone feels quite bad today.

Mum has a headache that makes her groan and screw her eyes up when she stands up or loud noises hurt her head. Dad had a really bad night’s sleep and keeps nearly falling asleep whenever he sits down. And Par had a meltdown this morning and now feels really ill and can’t talk.

Basically, I’m the only one who feels all right. And I know my parents all feel bad, because they’re all too weak and poorly and tired to look after me properly. But I’m all right.

But I hope they all feel better soon.

 

In the afternoon, I get myself a packet of crisps from the kitchen, and crunch on the crisps as I head into the living room. When I get in there, I start giggling.

Mum is lying on the sofa with an ice pack across her forehead. Dad has fallen asleep in the armchair with his head flopped back. And Par is upside down on the other armchair, his head dangling down as his hands click his fidget cube.

He sees me giggling and smiles.

 _Hello, Susan_ , he signs.

And I sit on the floor and eat my crisps.


	25. Freebie

The front door slamming signals the Doctor’s return. He can never just close a door; he always manages to slam it.

Sarah goes out into the hallway, and finds the Doctor and Susan out of breath, both holding an ice cream cone in each hand. Susan is giggling, and the Doctor has a massive grin on his face. Harry wanders down the stairs, and his expression puts across Sarah’s thoughts perfectly.

“Now, this may sound like a silly question,” Harry says, watching the Doctor kick his shoes off without undoing the laces. “But why have you two got four ice creams?”

“Because an ice cream van went past at the top of the road and we just thought ‘we want ice cream’, so we chased the van and got some ice cream,” the Doctor explains.

“And we got one for you and one for Mum, because you like ice cream too,” Susan says, and she and the Doctor hand Sarah and Harry one of their cones.

“Thank you, old thing,” Harry says.

“I love ice cream,” Sarah says, licking her ice cream.

“We know,” the Doctor says, smiling as he takes a bite out of his cone.

Sarah grins. “Thanks.”


	26. Echolalia

Par is doing his echolalia thing a lot today. It seems to happen more on the days where he finds it harder to talk, but that’s not important. All I know is that he’s repeating everyone’s words back to them, and Par keeps looking a bit embarrassed as well as smiling when it happens.

Like when I bump into him on the stairs, and I say, “Sorry, Par.”

And he says, “Sorry, Par.” His voice comes out all flat, and then he smiles awkwardly. “Not again.”

“It’s not bad, Par,” I say. “Why do you look embarrassed?”

As I say it, his face goes a bit red. “Nothing, really. I just sometimes worry that I might be annoying you.”

“But you’re not.”

“I know I’m not, Susan, but tell that to my brain,” Par says, and I remember that Par has PTSD and his brain brings up memories about people being mean to him when he was a kid.

It makes me sad to think about the other kids picking on Par, so I hug him.

“I’m sorry your brain makes you worry about things, Par.”

He chuckles. “Don’t be silly, Susan.”

But then he smiles and says, “Thank you.”


	27. Colour

“What was it like before colour telly?” Susan asks, leaning against Sarah as they watch the television one evening. It’s an episode of a soap opera, and Sarah has totally lost track of the plot. Harry looks like he’s about to fall asleep. The Doctor is eating jelly babies and sighing every time a character says something annoying.

“Very monochrome,” the Doctor says, putting another jelly baby into his mouth.

Harry raises his eyebrows. “Not helpful, Doctor.”

“What does mono-thingy mean?” Susan says.

“It means black and white, darling,” Sarah says, watching Harry pull a silly face at the Doctor and the Doctor pull an even sillier face back.

Susan sighs like Harry does when he’s annoyed, and smiles. “Silly Par.”

The Doctor nods. “Silly Par.”

“Very silly Par,” Harry mutters.

“But seriously, darling,” Sarah says, and Harry and the Doctor’s faces both look like they are saying, _I wasn’t doing anything._ “It was just like watching an old film, except everything on the telly is like that. There were fewer channels too. But that’s about it, really.”

“So it was just the same, but without the colour?” Susan says.

“Exactly,” the Doctor says. “Would you like a jelly baby?”


	28. Empathy

The Doctor can be rather tactless at times. But he doesn’t mean to be blunt. And he always feels bad if he accidentally offends someone.

One time, they have Sarah’s new friends round for dinner. Susan has gone to bed and the Doctor has skived out of it, hating formal dinner parties. After the meal, Harry and Sarah take their guests through to the sitting room, and they drink wine and eat chocolates as they make small talk. At one point, the Doctor wanders in and sits on the arm of the sofa, eating jelly babies.

“Wouldn’t you prefer a chocolate, Doctor?” asks Sarah’s friend Jenny, clearly confused by the Doctor’s name.

“No thanks,” he says. “I hate chocolate liquors. They’re disgusting. I’ll stick with jelly babies.”

Sarah looks at him, and then Jenny and Sam. The Doctor’s eyes widen when he sees their guests glaring at him.

He grins nervously. “What?”

“Jenny and Sam bought those chocolates,” Harry whispers.

The Doctor gulps. Sarah can see he doesn’t understand, but he looks almost sad as he says, “Sorry. It’s nothing personal. I’m just not that keen. Um… Would you like a jelly baby?”

Luckily, Jenny takes one, smiling. “Thank you.”


	29. Overthinking

Sarah often overthinks things, and she’d be the first person to admit that (she’s a bit of a hypochondriac, and worries herself whenever she gets a headache that it might be something very serious). But she also knows that she isn’t nearly as bad as Harry. The Doctor most certainly has his moments, but Harry is undoubtedly the worst.

Whenever one of them is ill, he starts reading textbooks and scrolling through the TARDIS databank and constantly checking up on them, never wanting to leave them alone in case they get worse. This is most obvious when the ill person is Susan (to the point that the Doctor has to lock Harry out of his TARDIS to stop him reading the medical notes in the databank), but he does it with Sarah and the Doctor too.

Of course, it’s endearing to see how much Harry cares for them all. But it is also annoying, because Harry drives them all up the wall with all of his worrying, and it also hurts Sarah to see him so stressed and anxious. And she often has to hug Harry and reassure him that everything is all right, and he doesn’t need to worry.


	30. Neurotypical

“Harry, come and read this,” the Doctor says, grinning the biggest grin Harry has seen in a while. He hands him a handmade card. “It’s from Susan.”

Harry opens it, and reads the message.

_Dear Par,_

_Happy Par’s Day!_

_I know that isn’t a proper day, but Mum and Dad both have days, so you should too. So today is Par’s Day!_

_I just wanted to tell you how much I love you. People think it’s weird to have 3 parents, but I love it. And I love you._

_I know loads of people don’t like you because you’re autistic, but I want you to know they’re all horrible. I hate seeing you sad when the evil people protest in town. You’re not bad. You’re just you. And you’d be boring if you weren’t you._

_Sorry for rambling. Love you so much, Par. I hope you like Par’s Day!_

_Love from Susan_

When Harry looks at the Doctor, there are tears in his eyes.

“What did we do to get such a lovely kid?” he says, and his voice wavers.

Harry hugs him tightly, and he feels a bit tearful himself. “I don’t know. But she’s wonderful. And she’s right.”


End file.
